Colleges need to reconsider sports policies

MEREDITH

January 09, 2002|By CHARLES MEREDITH Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Did you watch "60 Minutes" on Sunday? As I watched Lesley Stahl's segment on big-time college sports, I thought of James Michener and his scathing book "Sports in America."

Twenty-five years ago, the famous Bucks Countian claimed that big-time college sports are shams. Giant institutions depend upon athletes to entertain the student body and alumni -- and make a ton of money for the halls of ivy. Michener proposed that the National Collegiate Athletic Association change its rules so athletes would be paid to play and not clutter up the classroom.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura agrees with Michener.

"60 Minutes" spent 15 minutes on the plight of Division 1 college football and basketball players. A former UCLA linebacker is the co-founder of the Collegiate Athletic Coalition, which is seeking to change NCAA rules. Ramogi Huma says, "The vast majority of college athletes live under the poverty line. NCAA rules don't provide money for basics like food, clothing and a social life."

The coalition has found a powerful ally in Leo Gerard, the president of the United Steelworkers of America. Gerard called the NCAA a "sweatshop" for not taking care of its athletes. "The NCAA is a club of the folks at the top," Gerard argued, referring to the beneficiaries of the billions of dollars generated by NCAA sports like football and basketball.

Will college pla221yers organize a union and strike? Stay tuned.

"60 Minutes" reported that the coalition is catching on. Huma says college players are supportive. "They sign on when they hear our story," he added.

"The NCAA is no longer some poor little operation," Gerard quips. "It's bringing in billions and billions of dollars. What we're saying is let's do something to improve the lot of the athletes that are generating this for us."

Brit Kirwan is president of Ohio State University and chairman of the NCAA board of directors. As crocodile tears formed in his eyes, he told Stahl that unionizing college players would be the ruination of intercollegiate sports. Kirwan said student athletes should be playing college sports for the academic degree.

Preposterous, Michener would respond.

James Dudertadt, the former president of the University of Michigan and a former college player at Yale, would agree with Michener. "Only half of Division 1 football and basketball players graduate," Dudertadt told Stahl. "These players are already quasi-professionals. Coaches are paid millions. The NCAA is marketed very much like professional entertainment," he said. "The only thing that's missing is payment for the players."

Last year, the 50 colleges that participated in football bowl games received more than $161 million. Michener wouldn't be surprised by those grim statistics. A year ago the NCAA reported that only 48 percent of Division 1A football players and 42 percent of basketball players graduated within six years.

There's another societal point here. "Big-time college sports programs and media hype do a disservice to inner city kids," Michener wrote. "Blinded by the dazzling temporary success of a few black stars, the ghetto boy dreams only of success in sports. His chances for ultimate stardom are not great; in the meantime he has destroyed whatever chances he had for becoming a good doctor, or engineer, or social expert," he continued. "More black talent is aborted on the ghetto playground than can be calculated, leaving the black community impoverished."

Only 55 college seniors will land salaried berths in professional basketball, Michener told us. So all this emphasis about turning a 7-year-old star into a gladiator in America's version of the games in ancient Rome is terribly misplaced.

"We need to redirect parents and coaches," John Grawe of Stadium Sports in Quakertown observed. "We should let the kids enjoy the competition." Amen, brother.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith

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Only 55 college seniors will land salaried berths in professional basketball.